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Recent Headlines
a la Mod:

Domino is
a "disarmingly
straight-forward"
work that "pushes
us to reexamine our
relationship to images
and their consumption,
not only ethically
but metaphysically"
-Collin Brinkman

De Palma on Domino
"It was not recut.
I was not involved
in the ADR, the
musical recording
sessions, the final
mix or the color
timing of the
final print."

Listen to
Donaggio's full score
for Domino online

De Palma/Lehman
rapport at work
in Snakes

De Palma/Lehman
next novel is Terry

De Palma developing
Catch And Kill,
"a horror movie
based on real things
that have happened
in the news"

Supercut video
of De Palma's films
edited by Carl Rodrigue

Washington Post
review of Keesey book

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Exclusive Passion
Interviews:

Brian De Palma
Karoline Herfurth
Leila Rozario

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AV Club Review
of Dumas book

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italkyoubored

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Entries by Topic
A note about topics: Some blog posts have more than one topic, in which case only one main topic can be chosen to represent that post. This means that some topics may have been discussed in posts labeled otherwise. For instance, a post that discusses both The Boston Stranglers and The Demolished Man may only be labeled one or the other. Please keep this in mind as you navigate this list.
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Ambrose Chapel
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
CRAMPTON: 'I'M STILL WAITING FOR BRIAN TO CALL ME'
'BODY DOUBLE' ACTRESS TELLS FANGORIA TWO OF HER SCENES WERE CUT PRIOR TO FILMING
The new issue of Fangoria (issue #310) includes an interview with Barbara Crampton, who had a brief but key role as Jake Scully's girlfriend in Brian De Palma's Body Double. As Crampton tells Fangoria's Chris Alexander, the screenplay had given her three scenes to prepare for, including two dialogue scenes with Craig Wasson. Those two dialogue scenes were never filmed, however. Here's what Crampton told Alexander:

Well, I originally had three scenes. They were conversations with Craig Wasson, where he was trying to reconcile with me after we broke up. The day before shooting, they said they were cutting the two dialogue scenes and I'd only have the one; you know which one that is. I was like, "Darn, oh well, it's Brian De Palma; I'm sure it will lead to something." And it didn't; I'm still waiting for Brian to call me with something else. For what it's worth, we did that scene about 60 times, which was sort of interesting.

Very interesting, indeed... And here we have a picture of the once-happy couple, and a tinge of the dialogue scenes that may have been...


Posted by Geoff at 6:03 PM CST
Updated: Sunday, January 22, 2012 6:04 PM CST
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
'CARRIE' REUNION THIS MAY IN TEXAS
NANCY ALLEN, PIPER LAURIE, BETTY BUCKLEY, & P.J. SOLES SET FOR PROM NIGHT
A Carrie reunion will take place Friday, May 4th, when the Texas Frightmare Weekend, a horror convention sponsored by Anchor Bay Entertainment and Rue Morgue magazine, holds Prom Night from 9pm to 1am at Hyatt Regency's Filmmakers Hall. Set to attend are Nancy Allen, Piper Laurie, Betty Buckley, and P.J. Soles. The latter two were just announced as guests last week, so there may be more announced later, although the fest's web site gives no indication of that. Also in attendance will be Anthony Michael Hall. Here's the official description from the festival:

We have a special evening planned for you. Music. Dancing. Costumes. TERROR!Prom photos will be available for purchase with Anthony Michael Hall and other special guests along with a cash bar, music provided by GGC Productionsand dancing. Costumes are strongly encouraged as celebrity hosts will close out the evening by crowning King and Queen to the best costumed attendees!

WHEN: Friday May 4th, 9:00pm – 1:00am
WHERE: Filmmakers Hall, Hyatt Regency DFW
COST: Free for VIP, $5 for Weekend Pass holders, $10 for all others (pay at the door)

The festival itself runs May 4-6 2012 in Dallas. Also in attendance at the festival will be Barbara Crampton, who appeared in Brian De Palma's Body Double. I'll have a post about her tomorrow...


Posted by Geoff at 6:36 PM CST
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Friday, January 20, 2012
VERTIGOED CONTEST YIELDS HERRMANN WARP
AS ONE ENTRY REPLACES 'OBSESSION' CLIMAX WITH HERRMANN'S 'VERTIGO' CUE

Vertigoed: Brian De Palma's "Obsession" from Brandon Brown on Vimeo.

Brian De Palma famously started off on a treacherous foot with Bernard Herrmann when he showed the composer a rough cut of Sisters sprinkled with cues from Herrmann's scores for various Alfred Hitchcock films. Herrmann immediately told De Palma to turn off the music, because, he said, he couldn't possibly hear the music for this new movie in his head while listening to works he'd composed for other films. The two hit it off, however, and Herrmann returned to score De Palma's Vertigo-inspired Obsession. Herrmann's music for Obsession is widely considered one of his greatest works, as is, of course, his score for Vertigo.

In the wake of Kim Novak's recent cry of "rape" over the use of one of Herrmann's cues from Vertigo as soundtrack for a scene in Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist, Indiewire's Press Play blog held a contest, called "Vertigoed," that concluded earlier today. As editor Matt Zoller Seitz explained, "Novak's word choice was unfortunate -- more than one person, including yours truly, said that was akin to somebody sitting through the Star Wars prequels and witlessly declaring, 'George Lucas raped my childhood.' Press Play contributor and film editor Kevin Lee followed this Novak/Lucas line of thought to its logical -- or illogical -- end. Just for the hell of it, he matched the Vertigo cue used in The Artist with the last three minutes of the Death Star battle in Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, uploaded it, and sent the link to several Press Play contributors to get their reactions. And it's here that things got interesting: rather than generate cheap laughs at the expense of Novak, Lucas, The Artist or Star Wars, the mash-up inspired delight. Simply put: Kevin's experiment confirmed that Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo score is so passionate and powerful that it can elevate an already good scene -- and a familiar one at that -- to a higher plane of expression. Score one for the master of film scoring!"

So these were the rules to the contest:

1. Take the same Herrmann cue -- "Scene D'Amour," used in this memorable moment from Vertigo -- and match it with a clip from any film. (You can nick the three-minute section from one of Kevin's mash-ups if it makes things easier.) Is there any clip, no matter how silly, nonsensical, goofy or foul, that the score to Vertigo can't ennoble? Let's find out!

2. Although you can use any portion of "Scene D'Amour" as your soundtrack, the movie clip that you pair it with cannot have ANY edits; it must play straight through over the Herrmann music. This is an exercise in juxtaposition and timing. If you slice and dice the film clip to make things "work," it's cheating. MONTAGES WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

3. Upload the result to YouTube, Vimeo, blipTV or wherever, email the link to pressplayvideoblog@gmail.com along with your name, and we'll add your mash-up to this Index page.

The above Obsession entry, by Brandon Brown, creates a sort of Bernard Herrmann mind warp, but actually works pretty well. It came in at number 86 in the contest. Number one was Kevin B. Lee's entry for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.


Posted by Geoff at 8:53 PM CST
Updated: Friday, January 20, 2012 8:55 PM CST
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
RICHARD BRUNO HAS DIED
COSTUME DESIGNER WORKED ON 'UNTOUCHABLES', 'WISE GUYS', 'CASUALTIES OF WAR'
Costume designer Richard Bruno died of kidney failure Wednesday at the age of 87. Bruno worked on several films with Brian De Palma. He was costume designer for Wise Guys and Casualties Of War, and, having established a strong working bond with Robert De Niro on films by Martin Scorsese and Sergio Leone, among others, Bruno was a wardrobe assistant to Mr. De Niro on De Palma's The Untouchables. The Los Angeles Times' obituary for Bruno states that, "Along with tailor Henry Stewart, Bruno helped create an authentic 1930s wardrobe for DeNiro's Al Capone character in the 1987 blockbuster The Untouchables, whose costumes were overseen by Marilyn Vance-Straker. Bruno did extensive research to fine-tune the costumes; he tracked down old hats at Capone's favorite shop in Chicago and had them fashioned into new ones for DeNiro, and he had Capone's monogram embroidered on wardrobe items, including silk socks and underwear."

Posted by Geoff at 6:16 PM CST
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
'CARRIE' AS GODMOTHER TO LISBETH SALANDER
EW LOOKS AT FILM CHARACTERS WHO POTENTIALLY INFLUENCED LARSSON'S HEROINE
In the January 6 2012 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Mark Harris takes a look at what went into the re-creation of Lisbeth Salander for David Fincher and Steven Zaillian's American remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. But before he gets to that point, he discusses the seeming antecedents to the character created by the late author Stieg Larsson. "By the time Larsson conceived her a decade ago," states Harris, "there were plenty of forerunners he could scavenge and strip for parts. In a way, Salendar's two godmothers are Sissy Spacek as the telekinetic wallflower-turned-destroyer in 1976's Carrie and Daryl Hannah as Pris, the cartwheeling death doll in 1982's Blade Runner. Like Lisbeth, Carrie is an outcast whose abusive treatment by both her family and her society (a.k.a. high school) triggers the surge of her special power into something dangerous. And like Lisbeth, she never seems more emotionally remote-- removed even from herself-- than when she's unleashing hell."

Harris names a number of other "stone-cold female badasses" that were possible influences in creating Lisbeth: Tim Burton and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, Neil Gaiman's Death, and Luc Besson's Nikita. "Recently," he writes, "we've seen variations embodied by Angelina Jolie (Wanted), Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Saoirse Ronan (Hanna), and Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse)."

Posted by Geoff at 10:30 PM CST
Updated: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:37 PM CST
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Monday, January 16, 2012
KIMBERLY PEIRCE: 'I'M THE BIGGEST STEPHEN KING FAN'
'...AND BRIAN DE PALMA, BELIEVE ME.'
Hollywood News' Roger Friedman talked with Kimberly Peirce Friday, and says that she told him "all about her remake of Carrie." According to Freidman, Peirce said, "I’m the biggest Stephen King fan. And Brian De Palma, believe me."

Posted by Geoff at 5:47 PM CST
Updated: Monday, January 16, 2012 5:51 PM CST
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
DONAGGIO WILL SCORE 'PASSION'!
FILM MUSIC REPORTER: SBS SENT OUT INCORRECT INFO LAST WEEK
Many of us have been waiting for a return of the great ongoing collaboration between Brian De Palma and Pino Donaggio, and it looks like it is finally happening. According to Film Music Reporter, SBS Productions sent word Friday that they had accidentally sent out incorrect information last week regarding the composer for De Palma's Passion. Donaggio will score the film, and not Dario Marianelli, as originally stated. This would mark the pair's first collaboration since 1992's Raising Cain. About nine or ten years ago, Donaggio had said that he was to provide the music for De Palma's planned adaptation of Toyer, but that project has yet to get off the ground. Donaggio has scored six films for De Palma: Carrie, Home Movies, Dressed To Kill, Blow Out, Body Double, and the aforementioned Raising Cain. With Donaggio's involvement, Passion looks to be something very special, indeed.

Posted by Geoff at 1:29 AM CST
Updated: Saturday, March 10, 2012 2:16 PM CST
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Saturday, January 14, 2012
'SUPERNATURAL' DOES 'THE UNTOUCHABLES'
CHARACTER GOES BACK IN TIME, MEETS ELIOT NESS, QUOTES FROM DE PALMA FILM

Last night's episode of CW's Supernatural found one of the main characters, Dean, going back in time (apparently uncontrollably) to 1944, where he meets Eliot Ness. I haven't seen the episode, but according to Hero Complex, "Dean is thrilled to find himself with a fedora and reveals that he’s a huge fan of Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables." TV Fanatic has run a review of the episode, describing some of the nods to De Palma's film:

Of course, Dean really got to shine in his moment of pure bliss when he was transported to 1944 (if only we could all count in our heads like Dean.)

Specifically, Dean's star struck moments of meeting the leader of The Untouchables was pure awesome. It was very cool to see an iconic hero like Eliot Ness gain that Supernatural edge by making him a hunter, and it made perfect sense. It was also great that he was able to reference the fantastic Brian De Palma film, The Untouchables, with lines like "because that is the Chicago way" and punching out the witness because that's what he watched Eliot Ness do in the movie. At the same time, attempting to imitate the film fell flat for Dean, making it even more humorous for his character as he tried to fit in and seem as cool as his counterpart.


Posted by Geoff at 11:59 AM CST
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
DE PALMA SERIES AT CINEMATHEQUE DE NICE
OTHER FILM SERIES: PARK JUNG-HOON CHOOSES 'SCARFACE' FOR SEOUL; 'BLOW OUT' PART OF TORONTO POLITICAL SERIES
Cinémathèque de Nice kicked off its Brian De Palma film series Tuesday, January 10th. The series, running throughout January, features 18 De Palma films, consisting of every feature the director has made since (and including) Obsession, with the exception of Home Movies and Wise Guys. Last night, Jean Douchet presented Blow Out as part of his Cinema Club, offering his comments about the film and De Palma's work. Douchet provided commentary on the French DVD of De Palma's Hi, Mom!, released a few years ago.

AMERICAN MOVIES AND THE POLITICS OF IDEALISM
Blow Out will also be included in film critic and author Kevin Courrier's weekly lecture series, "Reflections In The Hall Of Mirrors: American Movies And The Politics Of Idealism," at Toronto's Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. The series deals with films and ideas for a book Courrier is currently writing, to be published in 2013. According to the web site description, "'Reflections in the Hall of Mirrors' examines how key American movies from the last forty years have soaked up the political and cultural ideals of their time. Since American movies often echo the secret aspirations, the dashed expectations and the country's deeply divisive elements, they shape - and reflect - much of the American public thinking and discourse." The class will take place on Mondays, beginning January 16 with the Kennedy era, and concluding March 26 with the Obama era. Clips from Blow Out will be screened on February 13 as part of the Reagan era class. Other film clips included that night will be from Philip Kaufman's Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Herbert Ross' Pennies From Heaven, Tony Richardson's The Border, and Barry Levinson's Diner, among others.

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF SEOUL ART CINEMA
Meanwhile, the seventh edition of Cinematheque Friends Film Festival kicked off today, and it includes a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Seoul Art Cinema. According to The Korea Herald, the fest "features a total of 19 films picked by 23 acclaimed cineastes in the country, including filmmakers, film critics, actors and actresses." Actor Park Jung-hoon will present De Palma's Scarface. "I watched the film more than 50 times," the actor told the Herald. "It really mesmerized me throughout my teenage years and during my 20s." The festival runs through February 26th.


Posted by Geoff at 9:32 PM CST
Updated: Thursday, January 12, 2012 9:34 PM CST
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Saturday, January 7, 2012
ALCAINE WILL SHOOT 'PASSION' FOR DE PALMA
COMPOSER: DARIO MARIANELLI - EDITOR: FRANCOIS GEDIGIER
"I’ve always been known for my concern for the beauty of the actresses. That’s because I grew up seeing the films from the 1940s to the 1960s, in which the actresses were shot like goddesses.” That is a quote from José Luis Alcaine, the cinematographer who has worked on five films with Pedro Almodóvar since 1988, including Almodóvar's latest, The Skin I Live In. According to the IMDB, Alcaine will be the cinematographer on Brian De Palma's Passion, a film of which De Palma has stated will have "a lot of beautiful women in it." Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams are set to play the leads. De Palma had previously told us that Thierry Arbogast would be shooting the film, but that was back when they were trying to get the project off the ground last spring, so Arbogast may be tied up with other projects right now. In any case, Alcaine is a welcome, fantastic choice, having done incredible work with Almodóvar and others. The Skin I Live In has been compared on more than one occasion to De Palma's Femme Fatale.

Alcaine is known for being the first to use fluorescent tubes as a primary lighting source back in the '70s. He talked a bit about his lighting techniques in a recent interview with Below The Line's Jack Egan, telling him that the bedrock of all good cinematography is "sculpting with light... You have to bear in mind that the lighting in all my films, even though they’re very different, starts from reality. That means I like very gentle lights, but with great contrasts; and soft lighting that envelopes colors, without making them explode.”

Also according to the IMDB (and confirmed by Film Music Reporter), Dario Marianelli will compose the score for Passion. Marianelli is an award-winning composer who has scored many films, including The Brave One, Atonement, Pride and Prejudice and V for Vendetta. The IMDB also lists François Gédigier (Dancer In The Dark, Queen Margot) as the editor on Passion. As previously reported, Cornelia Ott is the art director.

Posted by Geoff at 4:38 PM CST
Updated: Sunday, January 8, 2012 10:32 AM CST
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